


hospital blues

by anotherlifelessnerd



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Fluff, Gay, Hospital, It's all fluff, It's kind of long and I apologize, M/M, Modern AU, One Shot, Rarepair, Romance, light cursing, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23531038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherlifelessnerd/pseuds/anotherlifelessnerd
Summary: When George Luz is injured on the job and shipped off to a hospital, he really isn't happy about it. Who would be? But his remarkably kind (and rather attractive, if he was being honest) doctor makes things slightly more bearable.
Relationships: Eugene Roe / George Luz
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	hospital blues

Everything was normal. Perfect, even. It was a great day to be working on the construction site, no wind disrupted the workers as they clambered about, the sounds of drills and hammers filling the calm morning air. Until it happened.

It was all so fast, George Luz couldn’t say exactly what happened. All he knew was there was a thunderous crash, and all of the sudden, he was pinned under hundreds of pounds of steel, the weight crushing the lower half of his body. He dimly recognized he was screeching and cursing with pain, and the ambulance sirens mingled in with his cries. Somewhere between the site and the hospital, he passed out. Luz was told later it was the shock, his body simply shutting down because of the pain.

Most of his memories were a blur. A slurry of blundering images smeared by drugs and pain. Among the mess of flaming agony and morphine pumping through his veins, he made out two things. One, the doctors hovering over him, shouting and screaming for this or that. And two, when he was finally in his hospital room, the ginger that sat beside him the whole time, not even leaving to get himself food.

And when he finally came to it, the man was still there, hunched in a chair, eyes pinned on Luz. George gave a weak smile and made an attempt to sit up, but he let out a gasp of pain, the most intense stabbing sensation he’d ever felt rushing through him. “Holy fuck.” Luz muttered, pressing into the backrest behind him. “Holy fuck. Holy fuck.”

“Hey, hey, Luz.” Malarkey said, sitting up, suddenly at alert. “I wouldn’t recommend moving too much. You’re pretty- well-” He looked seriously into George’s eyes, his usually soft features looking rather severe. “-A doctor’ll come in soon enough and explain everything.”

Luz looked down at the tubes and needles sticking from him, at the blanket that covered his aching, hurting legs, and he felt bile crawl up his throat. “Wh-What happened to me? Why am I here?” His voice was rough and scratchy, like he hadn’t touched water in a week.

“You were working on the Fuller Skyrises. Someone was lifting some of those steel bars up, and I don’t think they secured them because-” Malarkey drew in a breath, nodding at George’s legs. “-Because they fell on you. Doctor says you’re lucky you’re not dead.”

George gulped, hands clamping around the edge of his blanket. Weakly, he lifted it up, and the urge to puke strengthened. Grisly bruises spread across the parts of his legs uncovered by his cloth gown. It looked like a child had mixed every color of paint they could find and had splashed it on his legs. Purple, blue, green, yellow, it was all there. He let the blanket drop from his grip, eyes dimly finding their way back to Malarkey. “I’m... lucky.”

“Yes.” An unfamiliar voice chimed in, a thick Southern drawl discernible in just that one word. “You’re lucky. Very lucky. I’ve seen men killed by less.”

Luz’s dark eyes flickered to the door of his room, where a doctor had just entered. He had a grey clipboard in one hand and was clicking a pen in the other. By all standards, even though he was dressed in hideous blue scrubs and this really was _not_ the time nor place, the doc was hot. Definitely the type Luz would ask out, with his ruffled black hair and shining cerulean eyes, he looked like a walking cliche. He approached the end of George’s bed, blue eyes focused on Luz. “I’m Doctor Eugene Roe, I’ll be a very familiar face in this room while you’re here.” He flipped a page up on his clipboard, eyes moving from Luz and onto the paper. “Says here you’re George Luz. You experienced quite a lot of trauma, I can go into the complicated medical talk or I can give it to ya straight. Up to you.”

“Dumb it down for me, Doc.” George tried his best to smirk, but his current state made even that hard.

He did manage to get a smile from Eugene, though Luz wasn’t quite sure if it was one induced by pity. “All right, Mr. Luz. When all that steel fell on ya, it injured your spine, your L-3 and L-4 vertebrae got hit the worst. We went in and removed any bone fragments and the like, but there wasn’t much to do beyond that. Right now we’re just monitoring swellin’ and all down there. Your ribs got a bit bruised, nothin’ too bad. Ya also sustained some fracturing of your pelvis, nothing that’ll require any surgery, but it’ll be a bit painful. Your left femur also got beaten up a bit, and we’re gonna go in tomorrow and get your bone all lined up again, to put it nicely.” Roe sucked in a deep breath of air. “Got any questions?”

“Just one.” George said, head reeling with all this information. “How long am I going to be here? When can I go back to work?”

Roe looked at Luz sympathetically. “Well, we’re not quite sure yet. We want to keep an eye on you for the next week or so at the very least and even after that... well, your body took a real brutal beating, Mr. Luz. Ya need to understand that.”

George’s jaw clenched at the evasive answer, and he tried to muster his most forceful voice. “That.” He started. “Doesn’t answer my other question. When can I go back to work?”

“Sir,” Roe ignored the frustration that was inching into Luz’s voice. “There’s a chance- maybe even more than a chance- that you won’t be able to go back to what ya did before the accident. We’re going to keep an eye on your condition, but that extent of injuries...”

"I got it." Luz said quickly, a lump forming in his throat. His eyes stung, and he had to blink back the tears that so desperately wanted to spill out. _Say something funny. Make a joke. Just make this situation less serious._ He told himself, wanting to cover how vulnerable he felt. “So that all or are you planning on sticking around to admire my pretty face? I mean, I don’t blame you.”

Roe laughed, a genuine, honest-to-God laugh that sent tingles through Luz’s entire body. “Unfortunately, as tempting as that is, I have a few other patients to check in. I’m just one red-button click away, though.” He gestured to the button by Luz’s bed that read in large white letters ‘Call for a Doctor’. 

“Thanks.” Luz smirked, this time his attempt slightly more successful. He leaned back in his bed, letting his eyes shut for a moment before peeling them back open. “Looks like I won’t have to ask for your number after all, Doc.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow at George but didn’t comment. He just chuckled and turned, leaving just Luz and Malarkey in the room.

“Luz.” Malarkey’s quiet voice drew George’s attention from the doorway to where the burly ginger sat.

“Yeah, Don?”

“You all right?” Malarkey’s deep brown eyes searched George’s face, and even Luz, known to be happy-go-lucky, couldn’t force a smile.

“No.” He said at last, turning away from his friend and staring at the whiteboard across from his bed. “Not really.”

• • •

Two days in the hospital, and Luz already hated it. The constant pain aside, the sheer monotony of it sickened George. He was a boisterous person, always moving, each day bringing something new. So sitting in the same bed, watching the same people weave in and out was his own, personal hell. The last time he’d been out of this room had been early yesterday morning when he was wheeled in for femur surgery. 

The one thing he had to look forward to was Doc Roe. And not just because he was just about the most handsome man Luz had ever laid eyes on, though that certainly did help. Roe was also one of the few to treat George like a person, not a broken thing. His friends tried, they really did, but he didn’t miss the pitying looks and the far too gentle way they spoke with him. How they jumped to do anything for him. George was pretty sure he could ask them to leap off a cliff for him and they’d do it.

“Mr. Luz.” That was Roe again. George glanced at the clock just above the board that held his medical information. Eugene came in every hour to check in. Had it really been an hour since Roe had last visited? It seemed he was in here far more often than that, or maybe that was just every second blending together.

“Doc.” Luz said, smiling his most charming smile. “Can’t seem to stay away from me.”

Eugene shook his head with an amused grin as sidled up to the monitor beside George’s bed. “No, I can’t. You’re just too handsome.” He busied himself about Luz’s bed, making sure everything looked fine. When he was satisfied, he straightened up and eyed George. “So how are you feeling?”

George shrugged. “Same as the last time you asked me an hour ago. Good. My legs hurt like a son of a bitch, though.”

“Course.” Roe pocketed his hands. “We’ll be switchin’ out your IV soon enough, should help out.”

“Any news on how the swelling’s looking?” Luz asked this everytime Roe came in. He’d been told the swelling was a major issue because Luz, right now, might be able to use the lower half of his body now (albeit with some difficulty) but clotting, or swelling, or any number of other things happened, George might wake up one morning with no feeling in his legs. Plus, he just wanted to keep Roe in here for a bit longer; what else did he have to do besides that and M*A*S*H reruns? 

“It’s lookin’ fine, nothin’ outta the ordinary, Mr. Luz. Not supposed to be sayin’ anythin’ but we’re fairly sure you’ll be able to return back to work after PT and everything when this is all over. Anything else?”

Luz nodded and gave Eugene a thumbs up, trying not to react to the extra information Roe had shared. As much as that excited him, he didn’t want to get his hopes up, but with so little to distract himself from that idea, George suspected that not getting his hopes up was easier said then done. “Hey, wait, Roe, one more thing.”

“Yes?” 

“Well, two things.” George leaned back, groaning slightly as he held up two fingers. “One, Luz or George is fine. You calling me Mr. Luz makes me really uncomfortable.” He dropped a finger. “And two, when the hell am I getting my chicken sandwich and jello? I’m starving.”

Roe let out a short, low laugh. “Well, Luz, I’m not your butler, so I’m not sure.”

“Yeah, but you are my doctor, and a hungry patient is a grumpy patient.” He countered.

“True, true.” Eugene said, smiling. “I’ll see what I can do about your food once my shift is over.”

“When’s your shift over?”

“Six.” Luz’s eyes flicked to the clock, it was 5:48 now, before returning to Roe, who had more to say. “Maybe I’ll even come in with some food from the cafe downstairs. We’ll see. I’ll hafta leave around six forty five, six fifty, though.”

“Fine, fine, you have a life, I get it. But if you _do_ want to get me food, I’d kill for one of those chocolate croissants.” George remarked. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” And just like that, Roe was out the door again, and not a moment too soon, because after those words flew from Gene’s mouth, Luz’s heart began pumping fast, and his monitor displayed that proudly. 

As it turned out, Eugene was being serious. Shortly before six thirty, Gene entered, though this time he was not in scrubs and his lab coat. Now, he had dark jeans and a loose fitting dress shirt that he had hastily tucked into his pants, and anything clever that may have come from Luz’s lips instantly faded away. Roe had been attractive before, but this took the cake.

“Wow.” George said breathlessly as Roe dropped a croissant in front of him. “You clean up nicely.” Luz could have sworn Roe’s face flushed at that, but with the dim lighting, he wasn’t sure. 

“What? Did ya think I only wore scrubs?” Eugene asked, pulling out a chair and unwrapping the sub he had gotten for himself. 

Luz bit into the pastry, chewing as he considered this question. “Honestly? Yeah.” He bit back to urge to make a remark about how when Luz imagined him outside of the hospital, it wasn’t with much clothing on. Not a great thing to say when he’d only known Eugene for a couple days. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Why are you doing this for me?” Luz set his pastry down, giving Gene a serious look and silencing his less innocent thoughts. “I mean, you bring me food, you stick around and talk to me. None of my other doctors do that for me.”

“Well, I like ya. You’re enjoyable to talk to. I’ve had alotta patients, but you’re the first to make me laugh so much. You’re funny. In this line of work, that’s rare.” Eugene ripped off some of his sandwich, working it about in his mouth. “I try to be nice to all of my patients, but you’re particularly great.”

“I’m glad to hear that. You’re particularly great, too. Of the three doctors who circle through here, you’re the best, though you’re pretty close with that Dr. Sobel.” 

“That’s hurtful. I should be way above him.” Roe said, snorting. Dr. Sobel, the doctor Luz (thankfully) saw the least of, was just about the grumpiest person Luz had ever met, and he had met some pretty shitty people before. 

“Don’t worry, you are.” Luz waved a hand flippantly. “Now, if Sobel brings me some food from the cafe, you may be usurped.”

Roe’s lips twitched. “Oh no. What can I do to avoid _that_ nightmare?”

“Hmmm.” Luz pretended to think for several long moments. “What if you did this everyday? I am going to be here for another six to twelve days, according to you.”

“It’s a deal.”

George smiled shyly, glancing down at his chest. “Nice, nice. Sounds good.”

Unfortunately, as much as Luz wanted to get to know Eugene more, a nurse came in, a gray tray in hand. “Mr. Luz, I brought you your dinner.” She gave Roe a curt nod before setting the tray in front of George and leaving just as fast as she had come in. 

“She was quick to get out of here.” Luz said, ignoring the tray in front of him.

Eugene nodded, eyes flickering briefly to the clock. “Shit! I have to go. I have dinner planned with my parents, and as much as I want to be here with ya around that nasty hospital food, don’t want to anger my mom.”

“Right, of course.” Disappointment sunk into George’s gut, he desperately wanted Roe to stick around, and it felt weird for Eugene to actually, well, have a life. He kept a smile on his face, though as he bade Gene goodbye. “See ya, Doc. Better check in on me tomorrow with another croissant.”

Eugene laughed softly and tipped an imaginary hat at Luz. “Anything for ya. As long as ya pay me back.”

“I’m paying your goddamn bills right now, Roe. If anything, _you_ should be paying _me_ back.”

“Point taken. I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Roe gave George a smile, which Luz returned, before turning and leaving the room, George left alone again. _God I hate the hospital._ He leaned back and closed his eyes once Roe was out of sight, not bothering to touch his dinner. He wasn’t hungry, anyways.

• • •

Luz’s body shook as he got out of bed, Roe’s hands gently guiding him to a wheelchair just beside his monitor. As he settled himself into the seat, he grunted quietly. Luz lifted his feet onto the foot rest, hands clenching the armrests hard, turning his knuckles white. “Shit.” George muttered, face folding into a scowl.

“You all right?” Gene asked worriedly, to which Luz just nodded, even though he really did not feel all right. He was being treated like he couldn’t do anything. Which, of course, he really couldn’t. But it seemed too childish to admit he was irritated that he couldn’t do this stuff on his own. What had he expected, anyways? To be able to walk around like nothing had happened? He had expected this, but it still hurt like hell.

“Yeah, let’s roll.” Luz said, dismissing his thoughts for the time being. “Pun entirely intended.”

“That’s a new one.” Roe said, sarcasm thick in his voice. “Neva heard that joke before.”

“I am _injured._ Go easy on me.”

“Ya didn’t get a concussion. You can think of betta than that.” Roe shot back, bringing a grin to Luz’s face. 

“One, ouch. Two, good roast. Now wheel me out, Doc, I _might_ die if I’m here for one more second.” Eugene rolled his eyes affectionately but did as George asked, pushing the man from his room and into the sterile hallway outside. Scrub-clad men and women milled about, and a few cast curious glances towards Roe and Luz, but no one interfered as Eugene took George into the elevator. 

“Ready to eat somewhere that’s not your hospital bed?” Roe asked, pressing the button that held the number four.

Luz chuckled quietly- if that wasn’t the understatement of the year, he didn’t know what was. “God, yeah. All day in a room that smells like orange scented cleaner can really do things to a man’s mind.”

“Huh.” Eugene murmured. “Like what?”

“Like make me wish for Axe body spray.” Luz said, resulting in a laugh and a soft 'oh no' from Eugene. The elevator beeped and the doors slid open, revealing a floor that looked identical to the one the pair had just come from. Eugene, though, seemed unconcerned by the similarities. He led George through hallway after hallway until finally wheeling him into a small, grocery-store like area. In one part, shelves full of sandwiches, parfaits, pastries; anything to fill typical hospital cravings. In the other part, several tables were scattered about. 

Roe took a table that only had one chair shoved under it. Carefully, he maneuvered Luz in opposite the chair.

“All right. You want a chocolate croissant again?” Gene asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer. George hadn’t varied his request. Roe walked off to retrieve the pastry as well as his own signature ham and cheese sandwich. When he got back, he set the food on the table and slipped into the seat across from Luz.

“We sure are creatures of habit, huh?” George noted as he pulled the pastry close to himself. “You with your ham and cheese sub, me with my chocolate croissant.” He laughed softly, head turning to stare out the window by their table. Patients hobbled about, doctors closeby. Visitors bobbed in and out of rooms, some looking distinctly more distressed than others. “You know, I don’t get how you do this. Look at all of them. Isn’t it hard to be in here day in and day out?”

Eugene followed Luz’s gaze, solemnly taking in the scene. “I dunno.” He admitted, looking down at his hands. “I guess after awhile ya get used to it. Besides, I do alotta good, so its worth it in the end.”

“That’s fair. Did you always know you wanted to do this? To be a doctor?” Luz turned his attention back to Roe. Leaning forward, he placed his elbow on the table and propped his chin on his palm, dark eyes pinned on Eugene.

Roe shifted in his seat, bright blue eyes shifting over Luz’s face. “Well, ever since I was a little kid, I liked this kinda stuff. Helpin’ people. Ya know, my grandmother was a healer. A traiteur. She taught me it, I guess. To want to heal people.” As he spoke, Eugene’s face lit up, filling with some distant, peaceful look. When he finished, he didn’t speak for a while, and George was content to let the silence sit. Finally, though, Eugene snapped out of it, clearing his throat to split the quiet. “Sorry bout that.”

“No, no, don’t apologize.” Luz smiled and leaned back, hand dropping to the armrest of his chair. “I think it’s sweet. Much more meaningful than how I picked my job. I just chose my career by throwing darts at slips of paper.”

Eugene raised an eyebrow, lips quivering as if trying to hold back a laugh. “Are you being serious?”

“Dead.” Luz said dryly. “That is exactly how I picked my job.”

Roe squinted, clearly trying to figure out if Luz was joking or not before sitting back, clearly giving up. “Ya know, it doesn’t surprise me. I’ve known ya for six days and that is absolutely somethin’ you would do.”

“Is that your way of trying to get me to be like ‘I was only joking’?” Luz asked with a smirk. Roe held his gaze for several seconds before letting out a long sigh.

“A little, yeah.”

“Too bad, not going to work.” By this point, George had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. “You’ll just have to live with the knowledge that you’ll never know if I’m being serious or not.”

“God, the mystery’s gonna kill me.”

“Drama queen.” Luz muttered. 

The doctor rolled his eyes fondly, hands working to unwrap his sandwich. “Ya know, we’ve known one another for six days, an’ I hardly know anythin’ about ya.”

“I’m not that interesting.” George moved about in his chair, trying to get comfortable. “But you can ask me stuff, I don’t mind.”

“Well,” Roe hesitated for a few seconds, like he was trying to find the right words. “Ya know that guy who visits you everyday? The ginger?”

“Yeah, Malarkey. What about him?”

“How do you two know one anotha? You seem pretty close.” All of Eugene’s attention was focused on his sandwich at this point, which Luz noted but didn’t question. 

“We’ve been best friends since college.” George peeled the wrap from his croissant and took a bite. “He’s pretty much my go to guy, and I’m his. So he spends a lot of time here.”

“It’s a bit intrusive, and I’m sorry, but what about your family? I’ve just seen him and the otha two guys.” Eugene said, eyes drifting back to Luz carefully. The tone he spoke with was akin to the way one would try to coax a ravenous animal; cautious and gentle.

“No, no, it’s not that intrusive.” George assured Gene quickly. “They live pretty far away and… there’s a lot of them. They’ve called me, just to make sure I’m doing okay, but them coming to the hospital isn’t exactly the most reasonable.”

“Alotta you? There’s even more like ya?” Roe teased, the tone he had earlier dropping away. 

George laughed and shook his head. “There’s nine of us, but I can promise you, they’re not really like me at all.”

“Makes sense. Too hard to believe there’s anyone out there quite like ya.” 

“You know.” Luz remarked, eyes narrowing. “I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”

“Well, that was the intention.” Eugene grinned.

“Could have been taken as a backhanded compliment.” George pointed out, brushing some hair from his face. “So what about you? What was life like growing up for Eugene Roe?”

Roe shrugged, eyebrows pressing together in concentration. _Fuck, he’s hot._ Luz couldn’t stop the thought, or the breath catching in his throat. “Only child. Grew up in Louisiana. Not much to say, honestly.”

“You’re an _only child_?” Luz repeated, shaking his head with mock disappointment. “Well that explains so much about you.”

“Rude.” Roe was laughing though. “What a pair we are, huh? You have nine siblings, and I have none.”

“You’re right.” Luz said, heart speeding up slightly. Eugene had called them a _pair_. He hadn’t meant it how George was interpreting it, he knew that, but that didn’t deter the rush of adrenaline that pumped through him. “I could always sell you some of my siblings, if you’d like. Might be nice to have a few less family members.”

“Do I look like I want to deal with even more Luzs?”

“Hey!” Luz slapped a hand to his chest. “I’m not that bad! Besides, my stunning looks make up for any of my shenanigans.”

Eugene’s face pinkened slightly, and his mouth folded into a beam. “Whateva you say, Luz.”

Their conversation dragged on, long past when dinner was distributed to the rooms. Roe would need to sprint back, Luz in tow, but neither minded much. Especially not George. Their talk had been enlightening; it turned out Eugene loved chocolate and black coffee, tried his best to eat locally sourced food, and volunteered in his free time. The man was pretty much a saint. But more importantly, as Luz discovered, Eugene was a gay, and even better than that, single saint.

• • •

George was being discharged. It had been a long, not-quite two weeks that had been made bearable only by Eugene Roe and the visits from his friends. But now it was time to go, and as happy as he was to be heading home with full function of his lower body, he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t miss a certain dark-haired, blue-eyed god who he had grown used to seeing everyday. It had been hard to tell who was in George’s room the most during his recovery- Malarkey or Eugene, and by the eighth day, Luz had decided Roe was coming in _much_ more often than the required hourly visits.

He, however, most certainly would not miss that stupid gown he’d been forced to wear the past thirteen days. It had been too long since he’d worn his signature jeans and flannel, and he was ecstatic to be back in his day-to-day attire again. 

“Jesus, it’s good to see you out of that dress.” Malarkey stated, beginning to push Luz from his room. 

“Hell yeah it is.” George muttered. He turned to face his friend. “Did you put the crutches in your car?”

“Yep. Just need to sign the discharge forms and we’re good to go.”

The forms took longer to go through than Luz expected, but that may have been in part due to his wandering eye. Every so often, he’d look up and let his gaze drift around the floor before snapping his attention back to the papers. And when Roe sidled up behind the desk, it became even harder for him to keep his mind on the task at hand. But he got through the papers eventually.

Once he’d finished, he looked up at Roe, and very casually spoke. “Hey, Doc, I was wondering if you could come down with me? I just have a question, it won’t be long.” Eugene glanced at the woman behind the desk with him, who just gave him a shrug and a smile.

“It’s fine, Eugene. Go ahead.”

 _Perfect._ Luz thought confidently before turning to Malarkey “Don, why don’t you go get the car pulled up out front?” 

His friend looked between Luz and Roe for a split second before smirking. “Yep. See you down there.” Malarkey turned on heel and headed downstairs, leaving Eugene to push George to the elevator. The two loaded up, and as they began to go down to the main floor, Roe spoke.

“So what did ya want to ask me, Luz?”

George’s stomach did a backflip, the courage he had held moments before fading away. “Well-” he stammered out. _No. Luz. Calm down._ George forced himself to inhale and exhale, trying to squash his nerves. And it worked. “Well, I wanted to ask if you’re free this weekend.”

The doors slid open, but Roe didn’t move. He just stood there, and when Luz turned to see what the issue was, Eugene had gone entirely stiff. “Geeeeneee.” Luz said, stretching Eugene’s name out. “Earth to the good doctor.”

Roe blinked, and he looked somewhat like a confused puppy, his eyes wide, and his mouth gaping ever so slightly. He slowly lowered his gaze to Luz, still not wheeling him from the elevator. “Did you just ask me if I’m free this weekend?”

“Yep.” George affirmed. “I want to go out with you.”

“Like… a date?”

“Yes, like a date.” Luz’s mouth quivered with amusement. “Preferably nicer than the cafe we ate in, but as long as it's with you, I’m impartial.”

Realization hit Eugene like a sack of bricks. His entire face split into a beam, and he opened his mouth to respond before closing it again. “Hold up.” He began pushing the chair, so the two were no longer in the elevator, and once they were in a more secluded part of the main lobby, Eugene came around in front. “I would _love_ to go out with you, Luz. I’m free this Saturday.”

“It took you that long to say yes?” George clicked his tongue, but he was grinning. His gut was warm and tingly, and he felt like he was back in middle school, staring across the class at his crush. 

“It took ya that long to ask me out?” Eugene countered. “Ya dilly-dallied about it for thirteen days.”

“You could have always asked me out.”

“Fuck off.” Roe muttered with a roll of his eyes. “Anyways, we should probably getcha out to your friend. He’ll be wondering where we are.”

Luz cocked a challenging eyebrow at Eugene. “Good idea.” He said, but he didn’t give Eugene any time to move. Instead, he placed his feet firmly against the ground and forced himself up from the chair, hands pressing hard against the armrests on either side. He hurt, goddamn it, he hurt, but at this moment, he didn’t care. Luz tugged Roe forward by the front of his shirt, their foreheads touching. “But I think he can wait a little longer.”

George pressed his lips against Roe’s, and Luz was enveloped in the sharp, minty taste of Eugene’s lips, presumably from the chapstick Roe was constantly applying. It wasn’t a long kiss, but to Luz, it lasted an eternity, and when they finally pulled away and Luz sunk back into his wheelchair, he was floating on cloud nine. “Now.” He said breathlessly, settling back down, a giddy grin on his features. “Now I think it’s a good time to go.”


End file.
